ok, some of you may know, i started my 55g last week to the date. Ran it for 2 days, added API stress coat and zyme, all looked good. Then added my blood parrot, pleco, yellow chichlid to the tank, all still looked good, water cleared up.

Then sat i added a electric blue chichlid and 3 corys and 2 fidler crabs. My water got really cloudy that weekend and ammonia started to rise. My tank is heavy planted, so it might be the ammonia detox that my tester is picking up.

Today, i noticed my water smells bad, tank is still slightly foggy but clean. Im using a Marineland power filter 75g one, since the top fin that i had was a joke.

So basically, the tnak has been running for 7 days now, 5 of it with fish. What could cause the water to smell? Also, how do i kno wmy true ammon levels if the tester picked up the detox?

Well, I am totally new to fish but from everything that I have read on here, you shouldn't add so many fish all at once like that. It was my understanding that a tank should be fully cycled before adding a bunch of fish but like I said, I am new to fish. My tank has been up for a couple of weeks now but it is not finished cycling yet.

I don't suppose you would be willing to post pictures of your fish? I would love to see the blood parrot and electric blue for sure. Both are fish I was considering.

What does it smell like? Ammonia itself is quite stinky so it could very well just be the escalated ammonia levels that are causing the problem.

I would do some serious water changes to get those ammonia levels down. If your ammonia or nitrite ever sneaks up above the minimum that can be read with a liquid test kit, say 0.25 ppm, you should do a water change.

Also, I think your mix of fish is going to be problematic. Some of your fish require soft, acidic to neutral water, some require hard, basic water and the fiddler crabs need brackish water and land access. There are also aggression issues you'll have to deal with, notably from the African cichlids beating up/killing the other fish in your tank.